I hold a bachelors degree from the University of Pretoria
with Mathematics and Chemistry as majors. I also obtained a post-graduate Diploma in Higher Education from the University of South Africa. Most of my working career was spent in the IT industry. I specialized as methodology consultant. I started my career in the Geochronology Division of the National Physical Laboratory at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Pretoria. Here I extracted nano grams of lead and uranium to determine rock ages, using mass spectrometry. I used a CDC-174 Cyber and a huge computer program punched on cards to calculate rock ages. My first achievement on computer was when I learned how to program in 1978. I developed a graphical application to use sets of calculated rock ages to plot out best-fit graphs. I became aware of methodologies when I joined the Centre for Computer Services at the CSIR. Using my skills to program graphical output, I developed a program that could use procedural information in text format as input to plot out a hierarchical diagram to visualize the process. Being late 70's, I believe this was one of the earliest attempts world-wide to produce a Computer Aided Software Engineering (CASE) tool. Other areas of work included:
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